Hugo Chavez Fact Sheet

Hugo Chavez Fact Sheet

He was a career military officer and heavily influenced in his early years by revolutionary movements and writings.

He was arrested for his part in a coup in 1992 but became a national hero at that time.

Elected to the presidency in 1998.

He nationalized much of the country’s industry and isolated oil as the primary, and nearly exclusive, export of Venezuela. During the rule of Hugo Chavez oil made up 95% of the country’s exports.

In 2006 Hugo Chavez and Venezuela became a beneficiary of the drastic rise in oil prices. This rise in oil prices lifted Venezuela’s economy to unprecedented heights until oil prices fell in 2013.

Thank in large part to the oil wealth Chavez was able to reduce Venezuela’s poverty rate from 50% in 1998 to 30% at the time of his death. In the course of the current crisis it has skyrocketed to 80%.

Chavez built up Venezuela as a powerhouse in the region by providing cheap oil to their neighbors and massive loans. Frequently these loans were little more than financial gifts.